


In Letting Go

by alexdamien



Series: Fanfics for Progress in Polymer Sciences [3]
Category: Saint Seiya
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Comedy, Loss of Parent(s), M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:33:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24095887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexdamien/pseuds/alexdamien
Summary: Mu reacts very badly to the news of Shion and Dohko's wedding. Very, very badly.With kidnappings and fire.Shaka is not amused.
Relationships: Aries Mū/Virgo Shaka, Aries Shion & Libra Dohko
Series: Fanfics for Progress in Polymer Sciences [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1689250
Comments: 11
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [muffinalien](https://archiveofourown.org/users/muffinalien/gifts), [Aledono](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aledono/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Progress in Polymer Science](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6716245) by [Aledono](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aledono/pseuds/Aledono). 



> For further information on Shion's wedding and how that went down, go read my fic "Twenty Years Later" which is the prequel to this one.

Mu had honestly never been interested in buddhist meditation before meeting Shaka, but after meeting him and becoming friends, he had never missed any of his weekly morning meditation classes at the buddhist center.

Especially during the last year, the routine of the classes, the calm of the center, and Shaka’s wise advice had been the one thing keeping him centered.

He opened one eye and took a quick peek at Shaka at the front of the room, guiding the meditation for the group of over thirty people gathered. He had tanned some more these days, and Mu thought that the look suited him very well. With the morning light coming in through the tall windows behind him, giving the exposed skin of his shirtless torso a soft glow, he did look quite saintly. Mu looked at the way his golden hair fell over his shoulders, wondering how his own fingers trailing that same skin would feel.

He closed his eyes again, and forced his mind away from such thoughts, trying to get back into the meditation.

His phone vibrated and he opened his eyes. Everybody knew not to call him at that time, so he worried it might be something urgent. He discreetly pulled it out of his pocket and took a quick look at the screen. It was a message from Camus.

_[Come to Shion_ _’s apartment. He_ _’s marrying some chinese guy. Not a joke. Urgent.]_

Mu blinked once, and took a second look at the message and the person sending it. Camus would never joke like that. Right? He pocketed his phone and silently slipped out of the class.

Once outside he called Camus right away, even before he had finished putting on his shoes.

“Camus what the hell was that message?” he asked, bowed down and trying to lace up his sneakers.

“Exactly what I said,” answered Camus in his usual icy tone “He’s marrying some old Chinese friend who just reappeared last Wednesday. They’re getting married today. Come to his apartment, I don’t know what is going on.”

“Are you serious? Camus if this is some joke,” started Mu, getting agitated.

“Do I joke like this often? Ever?”

“Uhmm…”

“Come to his apartment.”

Mu huffed and hung up. Someone touched his shoulder and he whirled around to find Shaka. He had put on a simple white shirt.

“Is there a problem? Are you ok?” he asked.

“Yes. No. I mean, something’s going on with Shion. I’m going to go see him.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“But your class-“

“I’m calling an uber”

“Uh? Uhmmm, thank you…,” said Mu, some of the worry lifting from his chest. He really was not ready for another shock, especially not one coming from Shion, and he felt happy that Shaka was so willing to be with him.


	2. Chapter 2

They were at Shion’s apartment less than an hour later. Mu climbed the stairs two steps at a time without even thinking what he was doing.

The first thing he noticed was the two teenagers trying to fix the main door to the frame.

“You’re holding it too high! The holes don’t match up!” said the one Chinese looking teenager with long hair.

Mu looked past them to see Shion sitting at the living room couch and hugging some Chinese looking guy that Mu had never seen. Sitting in front of them was another Chinese teenager, this time a girl, naming dishes from a menu. Shion looked up and noticed him and Shaka standing at the entrance.

“Oh, Mu! Hi! Come here! Camus called you right?” said Shion, a smile in his face and a ring shining in the hand he used to wave at Mu.

Mu stepped past the two teenagers fixing the door, Shaka close behind him.

“Sh-Shion what…Camus said…you were going to get married?” asked Mu.

“Yes,” said Shion, smiling.

“To him?”

“Ah, I hadn’t introduced you two right? This is Dohko, a friend from college.”

“From college? In Mongolia?!”

Dohko laughed and pulled Shion closer. “My family had a restaurant in Ulan Bator. Near the university. We met there,” he said.

“Uh…ok…And you just, uhm, decided to get married?” asked Mu, feeling his heart start to race in fear.

“Yes. Tonight,” said Shion, grinning.

“What?!”

Shion extended his hand for Mu to look at the ring in his hand. He seemed completely enamored. Mu started getting anxious. He had never seen Shion act like that. Hell, Shion had never fallen in love with anyone in the ten years that Mu had known him. It spooked him to see him like that. As if he was looking at a stranger.

“H-How? How do you plan on marrying…?” asked Mu, scrambling in his mind for anything that would tell him that this couldn’t be possible. “It’s not legal in Greece yet.”

“Aioros has a license,” said Shion, looking down to admire the ring in his hand. “I asked him and he said he was free tonight so he could marry us.”

“Aioros can only marry people in Llas Vegas!” said Mu, his voice rising. Shaka placed his hand on his shoulder and the warmth of his touch calmed him down a bit.

“It doesn’t matter. After all, this will be more symbolic,” said Shion, but Mu had never seen such a dreamy look in his eyes.

Mu started to despair.

“But, but…isn’t this too quick? You don’t even have marriage rings, or anything. Where are you going to get married? Here? The door is broken! Why don’t you get married later?” he said, grasping at anything that would stop this.

Shion seemed to consider his words. “Hmmm, you’re actually right. This really is a bit hurried. The rings…”

Dohko facepalmed. “I knew I was forgetting something!” he said.

“Maybe we should postpone it for a bit,” said Shion, frowning.

The Chinese teenage girl sitting across from them gasped. “Oh, but I have already ordered the cake! It’ll be ready this afternoon” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “And I already paid for it. I’m so sorry.” She started crying.

Shion got up and went to hug her.

“Don’t cry, it’s alright. Ah, well, what we could do is just get married tomorrow. That will give us today to go buy the rings.”

“And it’ll get me enough time to close the restaurant for the day and get it ready for the wedding,” said Dohko. “That way we can have more people than if we got married here!”

“That is a great idea!” said Shion, clasping Dohko’s hands.

“Y-You’re getting married in a Chinese restaurant?” asked Mu, incredulous. He refused to believe that this was happening.

“Yes! It’ll be perfect! Just like when we met!” said Shion

The Chinese girl stopped crying immediately and jumped to her feet.

“And we can have more dishes for the banquet! I can start getting everything ready now!” she said, holding up the menu.

Shion let go of Dohko and turned towards Mu. He rummaged in his pockets until he found his wallet and pulled out one of his cards.

“I know you don’t have a suit right now, so go buy one. Use my card,” he said, handing the card to Mu.

“Ah, I can’t…,” Mu tried to refuse, but Shion placed the card into his hands.

“Please. My wedding wouldn’t be complete without you. And of course Shaka should come too,” he said, turning to smile at Shaka.

“Thank you. Congratulations sir,” said Shaka, bowing at them.

Mu finally snapped. He pocketed the card and grabbed Shaka’s arm, pulling him towards the door.

“Thank you, we’ll go get our suits!” he called back, dragging Shaka behind him. He practically ran down the stairs and Shaka struggled to run after him.

“Mu? Is everything ok?” asked Shaka once they were out of the building. Mu let go of him and started walking towards the parking lot. “Mu? The subway station is that way.”

“We’re not going to go buy a suit,” said Mu, grabbing a key from his pocket and walking towards a car. “We have to go get Aioros and make sure he doesn’t marry them!”

Shaka, understanding nothing about his reasoning, jumped into the car after him.

“Is this yours?” he asked, putting on the belt.

“No, it’s Shion’s. But I have a spare key and I’m taking it to make sure they can’t go buy the rings.”

“You have a spare key for Shion’s car?” asked Shaka

“He gave it to me when my mom got sick and I had to drive her to the hospital. But then… with her funeral and everything, he told me to keep it for a while.”

“Ah, that was so nice of him. But why don’t you want him to get married?”

“Are you serious? He’s married some random guy from twenty years ago? That’s ridiculous! Come on, let’s go.”

Mu drove away. Looking back on the rearview mirror, he thought he saw the figure of that long haired Chinese boy from before, staring at them as they left.


	3. Chapter 3

They arrived at the university, where Aioros had been finishing some last minute tests while Aioria dozed in a nearby swirly chair.

“You can’t marry them!” yelled Mu, slamming the door to the lab open.

Aioria jumped awake in the chair and fell over.

“Good Lord Mu, what is going on?” asked Aioros, moving to help Aioria back up and into the chair.

Mu was about to keep going when his phone vibrated. He looked down at it and saw it was Shion.

“Shit,” he muttered before taking the call, then went out to answer.

“What is wrong with him?” asked Aioros. “I’ve never seen him so upset like this.”

Shaka shrugged. “Me neither, he said.

He could hear Mu talking to Shion on the phone outside.

“Oh, sorry, sorry, I got so excited that I took your car. Please wait for me and I’ll go give it back,” he was saying on the phone.

Shaka rolled his eyes at the blatant lie. Mu came back, still looking furious.

“You want me to go drive it back to Shion?” asked Shaka.

“No, we’re not giving it back! I’m trying to stop this wedding!” he said.

Aioros huffed. “So this is about Shion’s wedding? Well, they seem very much in love. I don’t think there’s anyone who could oppose-” he said.

“I do! I am opposing very strongly!”

“Mu, you don’t even know what kind of history they have together. I don’t think Shion would take a rash decision like this without being completely sure!”

“He would! You don’t know him as much as me. I’ve known him for over ten years and he never once mentioned this guy! We can’t let him do this. I bet it’s just one of those middle life crises”

“Well, if he wants to get married I really cannot refuse,” said Aioros with an air of finality.

“Then…,” said Mu, strolling towards the back of Aioria’s chair. “We’ll have to take drastic measures.”

He grabbed the back of the chair, swirled it around, and shoved Aioria right into the storage closet, slamming the door closed and locked after him.

Aioros jumped to his feet. “What the hell are you doing?!” he yelled, stalking towards him.

But Mu sprinted forward, too fast for Aioros to react, and held him down in an armlock. Shaka blinked, and realized that if he didn’t act right away, Aioros was going to remember that he also did wrestling during highschool, and one of them was going to get their arms broken. Possibly and more likely, both of them.

But he would much rather it not be Mu.

He snatched a few cables out of their socket and helped Mu tie up Aioros’ arms and legs. From inside the locked closet, Aioria kept banging on the door and yelling. Shaka grabbed a chair and set it against the doorknob to make sure he would still not be able to get out even if he broke the lock. Then he ripped a sleeve from his shirt and used it to gag Aioros, and between the two of them they carried him down to the car. A few people noticed them, but Mu just smiled apologetically at them and claimed it was all a prank. Since Aioros had been the victim of many pranks during his time as a student, no one paid them any mind.

Mu then drove off towards the coast.

“Look, you don’t have to flat out refuse,” said Mu to Aioros, who struggled against his bindings in the back of the car. “You can just tell them that you will marry them in a couple months. That will give Shion enough time to realize that this is a terrible idea.”

Aioros tried to scream despite the gag in his mouth. Shaka looked back at him.

“Does this count as kidnapping?” he asked.

“He and Aioria took me to Las Vegas one night when I was drunk off my ass. If I drove him past the border we would barely be even.”

“They took you to Las Vegas?!”

“Actually, all three of us were pretty drunk, but I asked him to never ever mention it because apparently I married some weird hippie once there.”

Shaka frowned. “You married someone?!” he asked.

Mu rolled his eyes. “It was one of those fake marriages. I barely remember anything of it. But the asshole took pictures.”

Aioros kept yelling, but they ignored him until they reached a secluded point that overlooked the beach. Mu got out of the car and Shaka followed him.

“You seem very emotionally disturbed,” he said finally.

“The one who is disturbed is Shion,” said Mu, and huffed, looking out towards the beach with an angry expression in his face. “He’s being ridiculous with this whole wedding thing.”

“For someone who got married on a whim to someone you didn’t even know, it seems very hypocritical of you to oppose him now,” said Shaka, a bit of resentment seeping into his tone.

Mu whirled around. “I had no idea what I was doing! I was-!” he fell silent, looking at something behind Shaka. “Ah, you…”

Shaka turned around and found the Chinese teenage boy that had been fixing the door at Shion’s apartment staring up at them. He bowed at them and held up a phone.

“Hi, Shion asked when you were bringing back his car,” he said, and handed the phone to Mu, who looked down and saw there was an active call on it.

“Uhm? Hi? Ah, yes, hi Shion. Sorry, sorry. We got caught up with something, and then there was a lot of traffic. We’ll be back in half an hour…Yes, we’ll bring Shiryu back too.”

A motorcycle started and Mu looked up to see Aioros had escaped from the car somehow and was running towards the street, where Aioria waited with a motorcycle. Mu moved to catch him, but Shaka held his arm.

“We should take Shiryu back to the apartment, shouldn’t we?” he asked, holding Mu’s hand with surprising strength.

But it had the effect of snapping Mu out of his instinct and make him remember that Shiryu was watching them.

“Yes, yes…You’re right,” he said.

Shiryu bounced on his heels, looking out at the beach, seemingly unaware to Aioros and Aioria escaping behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

They reluctantly brought the car back, spending the whole trip in silence. Shiryu made no comments either, and Mu was very grateful for how well behaved he seemed. Although there was something about him that unnerved him. He made him feel observed somehow.

Shion, thankfully, didn’t care at all about Mu having taken his car without warning.

“Oh, you’re back already,” he said when the three of them came into the apartment. “Where is your suit?”

“I couldn’t find any,” lied Mu.

Someone rang the doorbell three times and Shiryu hurried to open the door. Disheveled and with a manic grin, Aioros appeared at the door, followed by Aioria who glared at Shaka and Mu with eyes full of killing intent.

“Aioros, Aioria! Welcome. Take a seat. Dohko is just finishing lunch,” said Shion, oblivious to their body language. He turned back to Mu. “Tsk. And what about the suit I gave you? The gray one? It’s not very good, but it should do for the wedding.”

“That…It’s…at the cleaners…,” said Mu, cowering under the presence of the brothers and Shion.

Aioros laughed. “He can borrow one from Aioria. They’re the same size,” he said, smirking at Mu’s carefully contained rage as he walked to the dinner table.

Shion clasped his hands, “That’s great! Thank you Aioros. Well, with that solved you can go pick up the cake while we go buy the rings,” said Shion, giving Mu a flier for the bakery and the order note. “Take a cab because we’ll need the car. And if you need any extra money you know the pin to my card. Go, hurry. Deliver it to Dohko’s restaurant for tomorrow.”

Dohko stepped up to them and handed Shaka a small basket full of buns.

“Take these with you, it’s late and you must be hungry. They’re pork buns. You’ll like them, they’re Shion’s favorites,” he said and went back to the kitchen.

Shion eyed him as he walked away and then tried to grab one from the basket.

“You leave those alone Shion! There are more right here!” called Dohko from the kitchen. “They’ll be hungry!”

Shion gave up and went to the kitchen.

“I’m not hungry,” muttered Mu.

Shaka sighed and pulled him out of the apartment. He also had to call the uber because Mu refused to.

“You have the pin to his bank card?” he asked Mu, handing him one of the buns while they waited.

Mu glared at it with anger burning in his eyes. “He gave it to me a while ago. I needed money for everything going on with my mom’s funeral and the burial and all, but getting the insurance money would have taken too long. I guess he hasn’t changed it.”

The buns really were very good, and they each ate three on the way to the bakery, even if Mu did so very reluctantly.

The bakery was a very small, quaint little shop painted all in white, with several wedding cakes displayed. Shaka looked at them while Mu approached the lady at the counter.

“We came to cancel the purchase of the cake,” he said.

“Mu!” said Shaka, turning around to glare at him.

“Sorry, we will not be needing it anymore,” kept saying Mu with a fake smile.

The lady stared at him for a moment, then looked down.

“Ah, we cannot return the money that has already been paid,” she said.

“That doesn’t matter. Just cancel the order,” said Mu, grabbing Shaka’s arm and pulling him out of the store.

“Mu, I think you’re going too far,” said Shaka once they were outside.

“It’ll be fine. I’ll pay Shion back, and once he realizes that this is all a mistake, he’ll be grateful that he didn’t go through with some ridiculous shotgun wedding,” said Mu, pulling out his phone and calling Shion. Then he started walking and Shaka had to follow him. “Hello? Shion? I’m so sorry but when I got to the bakery they said there had been a mixup and they had already sold the cake to someone else. I’m looking for another one. I’ll let you know if I find anything. Ah, but perhaps it would be better to postpone the wedding a bit. Maybe in a month or two. It’ll give time to plan everything right”

On the other end of the line, Shion took a moment to answer, and when he did he sounded defeated.

“Ah, I think you’re right…,” he said. “I’ll tell Dohko. Yes, it would be better. This is too hurried and things aren’t going right. Come back so you two can have a proper lunch.”

Mu hung up with a grin of satisfaction. “Finally, this nonsense is over. Now, let’s find out who this guy is.”

Shaka noticed they had stopped in front of a chinese restaurant. He saw that the golden dragon logo was the same as the one on the menus that the teenage girl at Shion’s apartment had been reading.

“When did you look up his restaurant?” he asked Mu, who had already strolled into the alleyway next to the restaurant. There was an emergency metal ladder above that led up the wall.

“It’s a secret,” said Mu, climbing up the ladder.

Shaka followed after him. On the first floor, Mu looked into an open window. Inside it looked like some kind of office. After a quick look around, he slipped inside.

“Would this be considered trespassing?” asked Shaka, jumping through the window after him.

“Only if they catch us. Which they won’t if you keep quiet,” said Mu.

He went towards the desk. There were a lot of bills and other documents strewn about. Most of them in Chinese. Mu flipped through a few of them, looking for anything incriminating while Shaka strolled through the room. He stopped by a few pictures pasted on the wall.

“Mu, this…why not just ask Shion for an explanation?” asked Shaka, looking at the papers and photos on the wall. “If there’s anyone who doesn’t take rash decisions, it’s him.”

“You don’t understand! Shion is too nice. Too good,” said Mu, and hit the desk. “When my mom got sick, and the money from the insurance was running out, he almost married her to get her on his insurance. She passed before it was necessary, but…”

Shaka turned around to look at him. “Mu…why didn’t you tell me about that?” he asked. He had been with him during those times, but Mu had never let him know that he had ever needed anything, always claiming that everything was fine.

“I didn’t want anyone to find out. I just…I guess I wasn’t thinking straight. It’s all a blur now. Hospitals, doctors, then…the funeral,” said Mu, waving it all away. “Anyway, I wouldn’t put it past him to marry some poor guy from his youth who suddenly appears with two kids in tow.”

Shaka sighed and turned towards the photos on the wall again.

“Mu, come here,” he called. “Look.”

Mu walked up to him and noticed the pictures Shaka was looking at. One was of Dohko, the children, and two people who seemed to be his parents. Another was of the two children alone, but much smaller, looking to have no more than ten years old.

And below them, a very old photograph, yellowed by age. Of the two young men that Shion and Dohko had been, standing in front of the entrance to the national university of Mongolia. Mu would recognize it anywhere. He had seen it in so many of his mother’s old pictures from before she escaped the purge of the people’s revolution party and moved to Greece, just as Shion had done.

In the image, Dohko had his arm around Shion’s waist and smiled broadly while making the victory sign. Shion looked down, hands clasped together while a shy smile pulled at his lips. He looked so young it felt like a shock to Mu. He must have been younger than Mu was at the moment. Barely twenty, at most.

Mu’s eyes drifted down, looking at the letters pasted under the photo. He recognized Shion’s handwriting on them, even if they were written in Mongolian. He could only read a little bit of it, despite his mother’s efforts in teaching him, but he still understood the little sparks of love written here and there among the letters.

 _‘…The only thing I can_ _’t stop missing from home is your smile, but even you have left, so don_ _’t worry about me missing home._ _’_

 _‘…Some mornings I wake up thinking and expecting you to still be next to me._ _’_

 _‘Your letter has given me the strength to go speak with the board of directors_ _…’_

 _‘…How I_ _’ve missed you_ _…’_

Mu reached out to trace the letters, noticing the twists and turns of the pen and the energy behind them. His fingertip followed the paragraphs down, until he touched Shion’s signature, and next to him, his old name. The one he had left behind after taking on ‘Hadjichristidis’, as many other immigrants -Mu’s mother included- had done to settle in and start again in the country.

Mu’s phone vibrated, making both of them jump.

“Let’s get out of here, I don’t want to be arrested,” whispered Shaka, rummaging in the basket for the last pork bun.

Mu signaled for him to be quiet and took the call. It was Shion.

“Don’t worry about the cake anymore,” he said, and Mu could hear him smiling through the phone. “Shunrei said that the bakery called her and she already delivered it to the restaurant. Everything is set for tomorrow.”

“Uhm, great…,” said Mu without much enthusiasm.

“And where are you two? Hurry up, the food is getting cold.”

Mu hung up. “This can’t be real,” he muttered, glaring down at his phone in resentment. “How did she…?”

“The bakery called. Everything’s fine now,” said a young female voice behind them with a heavy Chinese accent. They both whirled around to find the little teenager from the apartment smiling at them. She bowed. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“N-Nothing,” said Mu, freezing in place, waiting for her to say anything about them being in the office.

She just smiled.

“Then, would you like to eat here instead of at Mister Shion’s apartment?” she asked, still giving them a kind, easy smile.

And yet, her kindness seemed very off-putting to Mu. It felt like there was some unknown danger lurking behind her smile.

“Actually, I think we’re just leaving,” said Shaka. He put the pork bun in his mouth, gave the empty basket back to Shunrei and grabbed Mu’s arm, dragging him out through the window.

Shunrei said nothing, only waved at them as they left. Still smiling.


	5. Chapter 5

Mu and Shaka walked slowly towards the subway station for a while.

“Maybe you should just talk to Shion tonight. Calmly,” said Shaka, sad at seeing how dejected Mu looked, eyes downcast and dragging his feet. “There must be some reason why he never told us anything about him. And he’s already very private with his personal life and pasts, so I guess in a way it isn’t so surprising-“ Shaka stopped, realizing that he was now walking alone. He turned around to look for Mu and found him taking a cab. “What are you doing?!”

“I’m going to the lab!” said Mu, getting inside the cab.

Shaka’s sixth sense set alarms ringing in his head, and he ran to get in the cab with him. He felt catastrophe approaching.

“Don’t come with me,” complained Mu, but made no move to stop him.

“What are you planning? I don’t like how you look right now. I know you’re planning something bad,” said Shaka.

Mu refused to answer for the rest of the ride to the lab.

The warm light of the dusk bathed the empty hallways in a calming tone, but Shaka could only focus on the inner sense of danger he kept feeling. Mu seemed intent on something dangerous, and Shaka grew increasingly worried.

“Mu? Seriously, what are we doing here?” he asked once they were inside the lab.

Mu smirked. “He can’t get married if there’s an emergency at the lab, uh?” he said, eyeing the cromatograph. He looked over it, then seemed to dismiss it, moving to check the connections of the computers. The alarms ringing in Shaka’s head started roaring. This was going to be bad. Very bad. Mu grabbed a small bottle of water left under a desk and approached a table that had very clear danger labels.

“Mu you can’t be serious!” he said, walking up to him and grabbing his arm.

“Stand back!” ordered Mu, shaking him off and pushing him away.

Shaka stumbled back and froze, uncertain if he should try to stop him on his own or try to call Shion. Mu seemed completely incapable of listening to anyone else.

He grabbed one of the bottles and opened it, pouring it over part of the table and the floor. Then he took out a lighter from his pocket. Shaka gasped, but before he could stop him, Mu had set fire to the liquid. The whole thing went up in flames rising up in a roar.

“Stop this! It’s enough!” said Shaka, finally realizing the extent of Mu’s madness. He grabbed him from behind and hurled him away from the fire, throwing him onto the floor. Behind him the fire started to roar, the flames almost reaching the ceiling. He looked around for an extinguisher and found one near the entrance. He ran towards it but Mu tackled him to the floor.

“This is why I didn’t want you to come,” he said, holding Shaka’s wrists against the floor.

“Have you gone mad?! Just let this be! He wants to get married and have a family, what’s so wrong with that?!” yelled Shaka, trying to push him off, but he couldn’t get any leverage in his position. Behind Mu, he could see the flames starting to lick up the wall.

“A family?! I am his family!” said Mu, holding him down harder. His voice sounded choked, and when Shaka looked at his face he noticed Mu’s eyes filling with tears. “If he leaves…If he leaves then I really will be an orphan. I really will…be alone…”

Shaka stopped struggling against him, finally seeing that cold disdain in Mu’s eyes for what it really was: a piercing sadness bleeding inside him.

Someone ran towards the fire behind them and activated the fire extinguisher to quench the fire.

“What-?” said Mu, looking behind him towards the person extinguishing the fire.

Shaka snapped back into action and used the moment to push himself up and flip their positions, pushing Mu down against the floor in a double arm lock, with the fire at their back.

“Let me go! Shaka!” bellowed Mu, but Shaka only held him harder, making sure he couldn’t throw him off.

Someone walked in front of them and they looked up to find the little Chinese girl, Shunrei, staring down at the holding a bottle and a piece of cloth. She pursed her lips together in concern, as if looking at something mildly inconvenient.

“You…you and that other kid have been spying on me all day,” muttered Mu, his face against the floor. 

The other boy, Shiryu, finished extinguishing the fire and walked to stand next to his sister.

“Indeed. It was obvious you were sabotaging the wedding,” he said, setting the extinguisher down.

“Little asshole. What are you two planning?!”

Shunrei sighed and shook her head.

“Dad has been in love with Mister Shion all his life, and he never thought he was worthy enough to ask for his hand in marriage, so we had to intervene,” she said, opening the bottle in her hand and wetting the cloth. A sharp smell reached Shaka’s nose. Ether. “We decided they would finally be together and get married even if we had to leave behind our lives in china, and you’re not going to stop us.”

Shiryu held Mu’s head in place while Shunrei put the ether-soaked cloth against his nose. It only took a short moment for Mu’s eyes to roll back before he went limp and unconscious. Shaka lifted him up and held him against his chest while Shunrei put the cloth and ether bottle away.

“Thank you,” said Shaka, feeling very strange at having to thank two teenagers for knocking out his best friend. “I’ll take him to my apartment and make sure he doesn’t cause any more trouble.”

“Master Shion wishes for him to be at the wedding,” said Shunrei. “He’ll suspect something if he doesn’t show up.”

“And you didn’t think I would suspect something when you two kept going out? Especially now at night?” said a voice from the entrance, and Dohko strolled in, glaring down at his two children.

Shiryu and Shunrei snapped to attention, standing straight before bowing.

“Father, it was-!” tried to say Shiryu, but Dohko held up a hand at him and he fell silent.

“So all this nonsense about wanting to study in Greece and how you weren’t going to go to university unless it was in Greece, it was all because you wanted us to get together? I can’t believe you two!” said Dohko.

Both Shiryu and Shunrei started crying.

“Oh, don’t think I’m going to let this pass now just because you cry! This was madness! We moved continents!”

“But you were always so sad because you missed master Shion,” said Shunrei, sobbing. “And when he came for the funeral for grandpa and grandma…he really looked like he loved you. We couldn’t stand it anymore!”

“But you shouldn’t go to these extremes! Ah, what should we do now? I think the wedding should at least be postponed,” he said.

Shaka stood up, carrying the unconscious Mu in his arms.

“You shouldn’t postpone the wedding,” he said. “After all, you both want to get married, and from what they say, you have been in love for a long time. No sense in waiting any more and wasting more time.”

Dohko nodded. “Ah, you’re right about that. Half a lifetime has passed for us…,” he said, wistfully. Then he turned to Shiryu and Shunrei. “But you two. You’ll be grounded as soon as the wedding is over, and we’ll talk about this very seriously. And hand over the cell phones. I’m confiscating them.”

The kids groaned, but handed over their phones anyway. With a sigh and a bow, Shaka carried Mu out of the lab.


	6. Chapter 6

Mu woke up to the sound of Shaka’s voice speaking to someone far away.

“So that was it. And you didn’t tell me,” he was saying. Mu blinked, his eyes struggling to get used to the soft light in the room. He felt like he was lying on something hard.

“Well, I couldn’t really tell you, could I?” said the voice of Aioros, which snapped Mu awake.

“I wish you had…,” said Shaka.

“It wasn’t something where I could intervene. It…wouldn’t have been right.”

Mu tried to move his arms from their raised position above his head, but he found himself unable to lower them. He looked around, and saw Shaka standing at the door, in front of Aioros and handing him back his cell phone. He held something that looked like a suit in the other hand. Aioros looked to where Mu was struggling against the hold on his wrists.

“Oh, look, the little pyromaniac woke up,” said Aioros. “Keep him out of trouble, ok?”

Shaka nodded and led him out, closing the door after him. Then he hung the suit in the coat hanger near the door.

“He chose a nice suit,” he said. “You’ll look good in it.”

Mu finally realized he was lying on the floor and his hands had been tied up to something above his head. He grew furious.

“Shaka let me go!” he ordered.

Shaka walked up to him and knelt down on the floor next to him.

“No. Your emotional obsessions have gained control of you. Your fear of losing what is left of your family will make you go insane if you let them. Just listen to me. Things will be fine,” he said, pushing some errant strands of Mu’s hair away from his face. Then his fingertips trailed down the side of his face, sending shivers down Mu’s back.

“Don’t give me a Buddhist philosophy speech right now,” growled Mu, pulling away from his touch. I’m serious, let me go.”

“You’ll stay there like that until tomorrow when we show up for the wedding. I’ve already told Shion you were staying with me.”

“And I bet you didn’t tell him that his new step children knocked me out and kidnapped me!”

“Of course not. I was the one who kidnapped you. They went back home with their father. Now calm down, are you hungry?”

Mu started struggling against his bindings. Shaka stood up and went to the kitchen, then came back with a tray that had a jug of water, a couple glasses, and a small bottle with something Mu didn’t recognize.

“I’m serious Shaka! I’ll scream! I’ll scream until the neighbors call the police!” yelled Mu.

“You can try. My apartment is soundproof,” said Shaka with a shrug, setting down the tray on the floor. That stopped Mu in his tracks.

“Soundproof?” he asked.

“It helps with my meditation.”

Mu rolled his eyes at that and let his head fall back down on the floor.

“If we weren’t friends I would be spooked by that,” he said with a huff.

Shaka lifted an eyebrow at that.

“Yes, friends. Ah, the obsessions of samsara are ever so strong,” he said, staring down at Mu, then he scoffed out a laugh.

“Don’t laugh at me!”

“I’m not. I’m laughing at myself. Hmmm, but actually…perhaps I am laughing at both of us.”

Mu squirmed, pulling against his restraints once more.

“I’m really not in the mood for your philosophical rhetoric. Let me go.”

“No.”

“Shaka come on!”

“You will just run away and try to do more crazy things. You need to stay here and stop obsessing about Shion’s wedding.”

“I just…what will happen then?” wondered Mu, staring up at the ceiling. “If he gets married… Then he’ll have children, and…”

“He won’t be your family anymore?”

“All his niceness, and his pity… He helped my mom and I for so long. It was so nice, to pretend for a few years that he could be my father. But now…I don’t want to let go of the illusion…”

Shaka reached out and combed back Mu’s hair. Mu leaned into his touch.

“Do you really think he feels pity for you?” asked Shaka, lying down on the floor next to him. His hands still caressing his hair. “The love Shion has for you won’t disappear once he has a family of his own. But you have to let go of this obsession.”

Mu shook his head. “I don’t want to let go. Shaka, you don’t understand!”

“I understand that you refuse to allow your family to change,” said Shaka, grabbing a handful of Mu’s hair and pulling his face up to look at him. “Every time it has changed you have felt loss. So you refuse to let anyone get close. Other than Shion who practically had to force himself into your life, you haven’t allowed any of us to get close and I’ve had it with that.”

Mu stared into Shaka’s piercing blue eyes, and he felt as if he could see right into his despair, his resentment, his fear. As if all he was had been uncovered by the blue in Shaka’s eyes. He took a deep breath and relaxed against him. It was true. He had never let anyone in too close. Much less Shaka, who had been so supportive of him for so long. He had dreaded for Shaka to see all of those things that roared inside him now. All those hateful emotions and feelings of loss that he had tried to hide away were now on display. He couldn’t hide them anymore. He was free.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, focusing only on the warmth of Shaka’s hand against his skin. It felt like a meditation in itself. A release of all his pain.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “You’re right. I’ve been so trapped in my own pain, that even though you’ve been my best friend, I…haven’t been as good a friend to you. Thank you, for having stayed with me for so long, despite everything…”

When Mu opened his eyes he found Shaka had moved in closer to him, his face so close that he could smell the soft scent of myrrh from his hair. Against the soft light from the lamp giving his long hair a warm glow that intensified the look of his eyes, Shaka seemed even more otherworldly than usual. The sight of him like that sent Mu’s heart racing and made him feel lightheaded.

Shaka’s lips curved in a sharp smile.

“You…are so very dumb,” he said, his hand moving from caressing Mu’s face to trailing down his neck, over his chest, setting on fire the places he touched. “I don’t want to be your friend.”

“Sh-Shaka?” asked Mu, dizzy and confused. Shaka’s presence was overwhelming, and he couldn’t help but shiver under his touch. “What do you-?”

Shaka silenced him with a finger to his lips.

“I want to be your obsession, as you have been mine,” he said, leaned down, and kissed him.

Mu was so surprised, he gasped, and Shaka used the chance to deepen the kiss, to taste Mu’s mouth, exploring it with his tongue. Mu’s eyes rolled back as he opened his mouth more, letting in Shaka, a moan escaping him at the feel of that warm tongue against his own. His thoughts scrambled and he kissed back, suddenly desperate for more. A need to devour rising in his chest. A fire burning under his skin when he heard Shaka gasp against his mouth, his hands moving down Mu’s sides, over his chest, caressing and kneading the muscles under the fabric.

Shaka licked at Mu’s lips, giving them a playful nip before moving to kiss his neck, his hands unbuttoning the white shirt Mu wore.

“Ah, Shaka…you…what do you…?” said Mu, while Shaka settled between his legs, lying over him. He arched against the touch of those hands, against the heat of his body, tugging against the restraints on his wrists still holding him down. He realized he had unconsciously spread his legs open to let Shaka in closer and he bit his lower lip in embarrassment at how easily he was being led by the sensations that Shaka’s touches brought him.

“I want,” moaned Shaka, grinding against Mu’s groin, making his gasp. “I want you. I’ve wanted you since the moment I saw you. Ah, I thought my desire for you would fade as I broke all of my attachments to this illusory world. But the desire has only strengthened.”

He unbuttoned Mu’s pants, pulling them off of him and staring at Mu’s body spread out before him with a hungry look for a moment before taking off his own shirt and pants.

Mu watched every patch of skin revealed with rapt attention, feeling himself growing harder. The body he had so admired brought back all those thoughts and desires he had tried to let go of.

“Shaka, release me. I want…,” babbled Mu, pulling against the hold on his wrists. He wanted to touch, to feel. Desire and greed tinged by an overwhelming lust flared up within him and all he wanted was to feel the heat of Shaka’s body under his touch.

Shaka licked his lips and leaned down to place another kiss on Mu’s lips, on the tip of his nose, on his cheeks. Then he nibbled his earlobe and whispered against his ear.

“We have both been driven mad by our obsessions. Dearest Mu, you will have to endure me now.”

Mu gave a sharp intake of breath while Shaka moved to kiss a trail down his chest, his hands moving to caress his pectorals, fingers playing with his nipples to make him whimper.

“Shaka! Shaka!” cried Mu, trashing against the bindings. A moan escaped him when he felt Shaka bite on one of his nipples and he gasped. He wanted more. He was so hard and he wanted so much more. He sobbed. “Please, more…”

“Your voice is so much more delightful than I ever imagined, in the nights when I would picture you lying under me just like this,” whispered Shaka, his lips teasing Mu’s skin with every word. He moved lower, placing a kiss above his belly button, making the other thrust up against him. “You squirm so much better. You feel…ah, so hot, all those nights were nothing against this.”

He pulled down Mu’s underwear and his cock sprang up, already dripping. Shaka licked his lips.

Mu’s thoughts swirled in his head. The idea that Shaka had ever thought of him that way seemed unnatural. Impossible. Even if he had also spent nights reaching climax with his name falling from his lips. But that had been him, a simple mortal. He had always looked up at Shaka as someone beyond the concerns of the world.

“Shaka, you…But- You are…” panted Mu, grasping for the words in his head. Holy. Saintly. Perfect. All those things that he had admired from afar. All those things that he felt like he was profaning when he wondered how it would be like to kiss him, and touch him, and feel him deep inside. “You’re not like this…”

Shaka gave a low laugh, and licked a strip from the base of Mu’s cock to the tip.

“Near you, I am nothing I am supposed to be. These desires have haunted me for so long, I need release,” he said, and took Mu’s length into his mouth.

Mu cried out and bucked up into his mouth, desperate for more. Shaka moaned around him, sucking on his cock while his hands cupped his ass, kneading the flesh. The look of his face with his mouth taking him in down to the base seemed like the most delightful sacrilege to Mu, and he cried out for him, Shaka’s name falling from his mouth like a prayer as he lost himself in the wet hot pleasure of his mouth.

Shaka pulled away from him, taking one last lick at the head of his cock. Mu whimpered at the loss of sensations, out of breath and helpless to chase the pleasure he desperately needed.

“More,” said Shaka. “I want you now.”

He reached out to grab a small bottle next to the water jug, but Mu could barely make sense of anything until he felt a slicked finger push inside him and he realized what Shaka wanted. The image of him pushing his cock into his entrance, thrusting into him hard, flashed through Mu’s mind and he moaned.

“Yes…,” he moaned, his eyes rolling back on his head.

“I should have taken you already,” said Shaka, pushing a second finger into him. “But your cool façade is too good. Had I known before, my resolve would have broken so fast, I might have taken you on the floor of the meditation room.”

The vision of Shaka holding him face down against the floor, mounting him from behind in front of the altar, appeared in Mu’s mind eye and his cock jerked to attention, harder than before. He could see it so clearly, himself scratching at the floor, face twisted in pleasure while Shaka thrusted hard into him, deeper and faster with every thrust, pushing him down, lost in the feeling of being buried deep into him.

Mu whined. “Please, it’s enough. Please get inside me,” he begged. His cock hurt and he needed more.

Shaka took away his fingers with a deep sigh. Then he poured more lube into his hand and stroked his length. Mu looked at him, mouth open, so hungry for him that he felt he had gone mad.

“I love you so bad,” said Shaka, pushing Mu’s legs further apart. “I kept wondering how far I would go for you. Ah, you really tested my limits today. If I didn’t need you so bad, I would leave you here like this.”

“No. Please, I need you so bad too. Ah, but you…you were a saint. So holy…Yet I desired you anyway. I wanted you mess me up like this so bad.”

He pushed into Mu’s entrance, throwing his head back once he’d breached through. Mu groaned, realized that Shaka was much bigger than he’d expected.

“Don’t say things like that,” said Shaka. “I can…barely restrain myself.”

Mu shook his head. “No. Deeper. Push deeper,” he begged. “It’s so good.”

Shaka did as he was told, pushing inside until he bottomed out and took a moment to regain his breath. He leaned over Mu, reaching for a quick kiss on his lips.

“You’re so good. Ah, better than anything I’d imagined,” he said, pulling one of Mu’s legs up over his shoulder, starting to thrust into him and closing his eyes to focus on the feel of being surrounded by Mu’s insides.

Looking up at him through the haze of his pleasure, Mu thought that Shaka looked even more holy like that. Pushing into him, eyes closed, head thrown back as he chased his pleasure and a look of extasy in his face. Mu spread his legs more, wanting to feel him even deeper, feeling that the pleasure setting his body on fire was also a religious experience. He arched, over the floor, feeling himself so close to his climax.

“Shaka, I’m so- So close!” he cried, tensing up. Shaka grabbed his cock and stroked him fast as he thrusted into him. The sensation of both was enough to push him over the edge and he cried out as his orgasm overtook him.

Shaka pumped into him a few times, until he too felt himself overwhelmed and spilled himself inside Mu’s body. As he came inside his body, Mu thought that he looked like a true saint, lost in holy extasy.


	7. Chapter 7

Shaka still had to make him to go to the wedding, but Mu had refrained from any last minute acts of sabotage, at the least.

Dohko received them at the restaurant and patted Mu on the shoulder.

"Hey kid, feeling less fire happy today? Don't set fire to my restaurant ok? Shion would be upset," he said.

Mu hung his head.

"I'm sorry...," he muttered clenching his fists.

"It’s alright, it’s alright. Just don't try anything funny now. Shion is in the bathroom. I think he's having a bit of a freak out. Can you go help him or will you try and kidnap him?”

Mu nodded and walked towards the bathroom. Inside he found Shion trying to put the cuffs on his sleees.

“Hi,” he said, walking up to him and holding his wrist to help him with the cuffs. Shion gave a long sigh.

“I was wondering where you were. It’s so late!” he said.

Mu finished with the other sleeve and then straightened Shion’s tie.

“Sorry. I stayed with Shaka, but he didn’t have a tie, so we had to go buy one,” he said.

Shion nodded. “That’s fine. He told me you would be staying with him. Shaka’s a good guy. I’m glad you two found each other.”

Mu felt his cheeks burning at the casual way Shion mentioned that.

“Uhm, we- Err, we don’t really…” mumbled Mu.

“Well if you’re not together yet I don’t see why you keep wasting time. How long have you two known each other? Two years? Three? All that time wasted and gone forever…”

“Sh-Shion!” cried Mu, embarrassed beyond belief.

Outside, the music for the ceremony started playing and Shion gasped, pushing back his hair.

“Ah! It’s time, it’s time,” he said, patting at his suit to straighten any creases.

Mu’s heart jumped painfully in his chest. Dread and anxiety rolling in his stomach. It felt like another loss. Like yet another inevitable change and farewell. Something was changing again and turning his whole life upside down. He reached to grab Shion’s sleeve, feeling seventeen and lost again like the first time he met him.

“Why don’t you two plan this more calmly?” he pleaded one last time “Think about it a little more. You just met again after years and-“

Shion grabbed him by the shoulders and stared into his eyes. “Mu. Never make the mistake of thinking that you are too young and have your entire life ahead of you,” he said. “Every day is a day closer to death. Every moment of useless pain and every moment of senseless fear, you have paid for them all with your life and your blood.”

“But Professor…” whined Mu, having no idea what Shion was talking about.

“You won’t understand this until twenty years have passed, but at least I told you now,” said Shion, and walked out.

Mu clenched his fists, fighting with all he had to not chase after him. To yell at him. _‘Don_ _’t go! Don_ _’t change! Don_ _’t leave as everybody else has left me!_ _’_. He stood frozen, containing all that he wanted to say and all that he wanted to do.

Shaka opened the door to the bathroom, looking for him.

“You didn’t try to kidnap him,” he said, a smile playing at the corners of his lips as he pulled Mu into his arms.

“I don’t want things to change again,” he said, moving closer to him, hiding his face against Shaka’s neck.

“I know. But that is the nature of the world. Things always change. People come and go, live and die. That is the nature of Samsara. But now, we’re here in the present. Let’s stay here and enjoy what it is now.”

Mu leaned against him. The feel of Shaka’s warmth against him. The soothing tone of his voice. The truth of his words. It all calmed the storm of emotions within him. He held on to him, and found the peace to confront the world again.


	8. Chapter 8

The food was good. The food was outrageously good. So much that Mu kept glaring down at his plate.

“Stop looking for things to be angry about,” said Shaka with a slight smile.

“I was hoping for this to at least be a shitty restaurant,” muttered Mu.

At the back of the restaurant, Shion stood up from his place. Milo, Aioros and Aioria stood in front of him. Slowly Camus and the others started getting up from their seats.

“What are they doing now?” asked Mu, frowning.

“They’re throwing the bouquet,” said Shaka, grabbing another shrimp dumpling.

Mu scoffed. “The bouquet,” he muttered and rolled his eyes, and went back to examining the variety of dumplings before them.

“You’re not going?” asked Shaka.

“What for?” asked Mu, selecting what he hoped would be a pork dumpling. Those were ridiculously good. All of them were so great. So great, he grew increasingly angry at how good a cook Dohko seemed to be. He would not be surprised if Shion had fallen in love with him just from how much he loved his food. He took a bite. It was indeed a pork dumpling. The best one he had ever tasted in his life.

“To get married of course,” said Shaka.

Mu choked on his food, covered his mouth and coughed. Far away, he could hear the others calling out for Shion to throw the bouquet. He finally swallowed down his food and tried to get his breath back. He felt his whole face burning at Shaka’s words.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, hating the words as soon as they had left his lips. He was suddenly terrified of Shaka’s answer. “I mean, it’s just a silly superstition. And I don’t feel like going up there just to be the laughing stock of ever-“

The bouquet hit him in the face.

“Oh, look, an omen,” said Shaka.

Mu wiped at his face and then stared down at the battered bouquet in his lap, directing all his rage to every single flower.

“Look at that. You’re getting married next,” said Shion, walking up to their table.

Shaka gave Mu a predatory smirk. “That’s good. You can start planning your wedding now, so it won’t be so rushed when the time comes,” he said.

Mu gave him the Stare of Death he had learned from Shion.

“You shut your mouth,” he muttered, without any actual anger in his voice, and his words only made Shaka grin even more.

“How are you feeling?” asked Shion, taking a seat next to Mu.

“Uh? About what?” he asked.

“Dohko told me about how you had been trying to sabotage things.”

Mu’s heart dropped to his stomach and he felt his blood run cold.

“Sh-Shion I…”

Shion moved closer and pulled Mu’s head against his shoulder.

“You know how worried I’ve been for you. You don’t have to worry about anything changing now. Dohko and I…we have a very long history. Too long perhaps, and too close to my heart for me to be able to talk openly about it. But this is only us finally deciding that we would stay together no matter what. Other than that, I will not change at all,” he said, caressing Mu’s hair. “And if living alone is being too hard on you, you can always come live with Dohko and I and the kids. You know I never agreed with you staying all alone at that apartment.”

Mu took a deep breath. Despite Shion’s assurances, he knew that things would keep on changing. Growing and fading away. He relaxed against Shion, then pulled away.

“Thank you Shion. You have been…one of the best persons I have ever met. I…I don’t think I can ever thank you for all that you have done for me. But I think…it would be better for me to try and…be on my own…And besides, I’ll stay with Shaka for a while,” he said, and blushed at the last part, looking away.

Shion laughed. “That’s great! Yes, be more decisive. Ah, I always saw so much of me in you. Perhaps too much. It’s good to see you being stronger than I was,” he said, then stood up. “You guys eat all that you want. Especially you Mu. You’ll be starting the clean up and repairs of the lab early tomorrow. I expect you there at 7.”

And with a last happy smile, he turned away and walked back to his table.

Mu slumped in his seat.

“Right. That I tried to set the lab on fire…,” he mused aloud.

“That is the madness of the obsessions of samsara,” said Shaka.

Mu rubbed at his eyes.

“Goooood, why didn’t you stop me?” he whined.

“Because my love for you has made me mad too. I kept on forgiving all your transgressions out of love. But don’t do it again. I’ll stop you this time.”

Mu tried to cover his face. He could feel his cheeks burning from Shaka’s words.

“You…You’re saying so many things about love now. Yet we’ve known each other for years, why did you change all of a sudden?”

“Oh, Aioros showed me the video from the trip to Las Vegas,” said Shaka, picking up another dumpling.

“Video? There was a video?”


	9. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place after Mu sets fire to the lab.

Aioros had been the one who had driven Shaka back to his apartment, carrying the unconscious Mu in his arms.

“Bonkers. He went absolutely bonkers,” said Aioros, opening the back door of his car for Shaka.

“He has been very emotionally unstable since the death of his mother,” said Shaka getting into the back seat with Mu. “This was just too much for him at the worst time.”

Aioros closed the door and got on the driver’s seat, fastening his seatbelt and taking off.

“I know,” he said, drumming his fingers on the wheel. “I could see he hadn’t been doing well, but…Damn, he’s so hard to get close to. He’s like Shion times ten. All work, no personal life ever. Like there was a wall around him all the time.”

Shaka made a vague noise of agreement. He pulled Mu closer to him, making him rest against his body in a more comfortable position so he wouldn’t be too sore when he woke up.

Aioros glanced at them on the rearview mirror and sighed.

“It was a good thing that you two met,” he said, turning his eyes back to the road. “He became much better after meeting you. But god knows how you managed to get past his crystal wall.”

“I have only tried to provide spiritual counseling and support for him. Through the years it has developed into a stable friendship. That is all,” said Shaka, letting his fingers comb through Mu’s long errant locks of hair.

Aioros glanced at them once more, seeing the way Shaka looked down at the face of the unconscious Mu.

“So…Just friends?” he asked.

“Of course. What do you mean?”

Aioros drummed his fingers on the wheel once more, pondering his next words as he parked the car in front of Shaka’s apartment building. He decided not to say anything yet, and got out to open the door for him.

“You want me to carry him now?” he asked.

Shaka shook his head. “It’s fine. You said you had the suit?”

“I’m not gonna let him get out of the wedding after he kidnapped me,” said Aioros with a smirk.

He pulled the suit out of the trunk and followed Shaka inside. They rode the elevator in silence, until Shaka took a deep breath.

“If there is anything you want to say…,” he whispered. The elevator dinged when they reached the sixth floor. Aioros laughed.

“It’s not that there’s anything specific I want to say. But I guess…I guess there’s something I want you to know? It’s going to be such a betrayal but I’m so sick of seeing you two like this.”

“Hmmm…So you can’t say it?”

Aioros shook his head, and he couldn’t help but smile at the ridiculousness of the situation.

Shaka gave him the key to the apartment and Aioros opened the door for him. Inside there wasn’t much of any actual furniture, since Shaka was very much the embodiment of minimalism. Just a yoga mat in a corner and a meditation pillow at the back near the window. Shaka went to set Mu down on the mat in the corner, then got up to turn on a small lamp and turn off the lights of the room, so the bright lights wouldn’t hurt Mu’s eyes when he woke up. When he turned around, Aioros was tying Mu’s wrists to an exposed pipe.

“What are you doing?!” hissed Shaka.

“Look, be realistic,” said Aioros, testing his knots. “He’s going to wake up, go crazy again, and you’re going to let him because you love to let him do anything he wants to. So, best idea is, tying him up and NOT letting him go until tomorrow for the wedding. Not even if he gives you his best sad little lamb eyes.”

Shaka huffed. “He never does that,” he said, fully aware that he never did that with him, but regularly did it with Shion and Aioros, which filled him with resentment.

“If push comes to shove, he’ll try any trick up his sleeve,” said Aioros, standing up. “Better be prepared.”

Shaka led him to the door. “Thank you. For driving us and for…everything. I mean, sorry for the kidnapping, and for Aioria, and-“

“It’s alright. I’m sure Shion will punish him more than enough for the lab after this is all over,” said Aioros, looking into his pocket for his cell phone. “Honestly, I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes then. But anyway, here. Watch this. I just can’t keep holding on to this.”

He pulled up a video on his cell phone and handed it to him.

In the video, Mu had his arms around the neck of a very tall hippie looking man. With long blonde hair, bad tan and wearing no shirt.

_“Yes! Let_ _’s get married Shaka! Aaaahhh, I love you!_ _”_ said Mu in the video, drunk out of his mind.

Behind the camera, Aioros snickered.

_“He_ _’s going to kill us when he gets sober,_ _”_ said Aioria, also off screen.

In front of Mu and the strange hippie who vaguely resembled Shaka, an Elvis impersonator started the ceremony. Shaka looked at the way the strange blonde man had his arm around Mu’s waist, and how Mu leaned completely against the other man, and he pursed his lips in carefully contained anger.

Mu had been in love with him? Since how long? Was he still in love with him? His attitude towards Shaka had never changed, so did that mean that he was still in love? Thoughts whirled around his head and he could feel a headache coming just from trying to keep calm and collected when a storm of emotions swirled inside him.

“So that was it. And you didn’t tell me,” he said, resentment seeping into his voice at the fact that Aioros had apparently known all this time.

“Well, I couldn’t really tell you, could I?” answered Aioros, with a sheepish shrug and smile.

“I wish you had…,” said Shaka, wishing he had known before. Wishing he had been able to see through the wall that Mu had erected around his heart.

“It wasn’t something where I could intervene. It…wouldn’t have been right,” said Aioros.

Shaka shook his head and handed him the phone.

He had a lot of time to make up for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic came about because when muffinalien mentioned on "Twenty Years Later" that she wanted to find out who caught the bouquet on the wedding, it sort of made all of my unused notes for that fic fall into place in my head. It was as if I suddenly could figure out how everything for this story was structured. 
> 
> @muffinalien  
> Thank you so much for your lovely comments and all of your encourgagement. It has been very inspiring and always brightens my days! And yes, I will keep writing weddings because they are super cute and a lot of fun! *high five*
> 
> @Aledono  
> Thank you so much for once again letting me play in your AU and enjoy the world you created, despite how many mistakes and errors I might have made with it :P


End file.
